THE SWARM 43 



25 



But the veritable signal has not yet been given. In 

 the hive there is indescribable confusion ; and a disorder 

 whose meaning escapes us. At ordinary times, each bee, 

 once returned to her home, appears to forget her possession 

 of wings ; and will pursue her active labours, making scarcely 

 a movement, on that particular spot in the hive that her 

 special duties assign. But to-day they all seem bewitched ; 

 they fly in dense circles round and round the polished walls, 

 like a living jelly stirred by an invisible hand. The tem- 

 perature within rises rapidly ; to such a degree, at times, 

 that the wax of the buildings will soften, and twist out 

 of shape. The queen, who ordinarily will never stir from 

 the centre of the comb, now rushes wildly, in breathless 

 excitement, over the surface of the vehement crowd that 

 turn and turn on themselves. Is she hastening their de- 

 parture, or trying to delay it ? Does she command, or 

 implore ? Does this prodigious emotion issue from her, 

 or is she its victim ? Such knowledge as we possess of 

 the general psychology of the bee warrants the belief 

 that the swarming always takes place against the old sove- 

 reign's will. For indeed the ascetic workers, her daughters, 

 regard the queen above all as the organ of love ; indispen- 

 sable, certainly, and sacred, but in herself somewhat uncon- 

 scious, and often of feeble mind. They treat her like a 

 mother in her dotage. Their respect for her, and their 

 tenderness, are heroic and boundless. The purest honey, 

 specially distilled and almost entirely assimilable, is reserved 



